There are many questions for Milagro Sala to answer. Photo: Romina Santarelli taken from Argentinian Ministry of Culture Flickr account under Creative Commons License.

The arrest of social activist and indigenous leader Milagro Sala on January 16 has been the cause of both international outcry and domestic protest in Argentina over the past few weeks. Thousands of people took to Plaza de Mayo in the capital city of Buenos Aires, protesting an arrest they believe violates civil liberties (including the right to assembly).

Sala, who leads the Tupac Amaru Association and serves as a Parlasur lawmaker, was organizing protests in the province of San Salvador de Jujuy when she was arrested. She and many other social organizations set up camp in Belgrano Plaza in mid-December, opposite to the principal government building in Jujuy, protesting against reforms made by newly elected Governor Gerardo Morales to the distribution and control of social benefits. Before these reforms, Sala and her association were chiefly responsible for administering these resources.

Officially, Sala was arrested on two charges: “inciting criminal behavior” among the people in the camp at Plaza Belgrano, and spreading “disorder” by lobbying cooperatives to oppose the governor's reforms by resisting the state's new requirements.

Milagro Sala is a fighter who brings organization and social and political revindication. The kind that the right fears. #FreeMilagroSala

Mariela Belski, the executive director of Amnesty International Argentina, says it presents a clear “attempt to criminalize practices related to the exercise of the right to protest and freedom of expression.” Both the CELS and Amnesty International Argentina also say that her arrest warrant is vague and does not clearly define the charges against her.

CELS, together with ANDHES (the Northwestern Argentine Lawyers for Human Rights and Social Studies), has already filed an application with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) on Sala's behalf.

Shortly after her arrest, supporters took to Twitter with #LiberenAMilagroSala (#Free Milagro Sala).

Users were quick to describe her as the first political prisoner in Argentina since President Mauricio Macri took power in December.

What they can't stand about Milagro Sala is that she is indigenous, a woman, and she has organized the poor.

Many in the international community have also denounced Sala’s arrest. Members of Parlasur at the Summit of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Parliament both condemned the arrest.

Officially, newly elected President Mauricio Macri had little to do with her arrest, though he has endorsed the policing measure and met with Governor Morales at the Casa Rosada.

Nonetheless, Twitter users have criticized Macri for hypocrisy, given his objections to the arrest of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez at the Mercosur conference just a few weeks earlier. The comparison when posed by an Argentine journalist caused Macri to storm out of a press conference in Davos.

Loved or hated?

Milagro Sala is a longtime ally of former President Cristina Kirchner. Tensions between Sala and Governor Morales (President Macri's political ally) have been rising since he took office two months ago. Morales says he's bringing an end to a monopoly of power in the province (which was led by Sala and her association until now). According to his campaign platform, he seeks to bring “transparency” the the system, which he argues Sala used to collect money and power. Morales says Sala’s main goal is to the change in power dynamic, achieving some kind of co-government in the province. The governor even says Sala was a mafia-style leader in Jujuy, allegedly getting involved in the trafficking of both drugs and people.

One Twitter user claims that the majority of people from Jujuy support Morales.

This is how the Governor's Office in Jujuy looked after Milagro Sala protested. This is the act of someone who says she is a pacifist? Is it a felony? Can you protests without starting a fire or running someone over?

There are also videos online showing Sala's often aggressive behavior.

Since Sala's arrest, Prosecutor Liliana Fernandez de Montiel has launched another investigation regarding a complaint made by Morales about the alleged appropriation of $29 million, as part of an advance for a program for social housing not yet built. In connection with the case, police raided Sala's home and offices earlier this week.

These are not the only claims made against Sala regarding money. She's also accused of receiving three different salaries from the state, and Twitter users have recently mocked her, following revelations that she owns a smart car worth $28 million pesos.

To demand Milagro Sala's liberation, I propose that we all go in a rally honking with our smart [cars]

Political commentator and left wing activist Fabian Harari agrees that there are many questions that Milagro Sala must answer. He highlights that her arrest however is related to her protest and this is what sets a dangerous precedent.

Milagro Sala has to answer many questions. But not for organizing a camp, or blocking roads. That's not a crime—it is a most important right. Milagro Sala really should respond [to charges of] criminal behavior, but [regarding crimes] against the working class—crimes that that far exceed the accusations made by Governor Gerardo Morales.

The state hired and will continue to recruit in black, without social security, with pensions, and without any right to organize, as Milagro Sala does.

Moreover, bourgeois politics in Argentina always used corrupt businesses as a source of funding and street gangs as an element of coercion. It will not stop. That is, Milagro Sala's wrongdoing is the stuff of Argentina's politics. Herr responsibility is to an entire class. Gerardo Morales and Cambiemos are not against this. They simply want to be the beneficiaries.

The different narratives over Milagro Sala and her arrest show the continued political divides in Argentina between supporters of the former Kirchner government and the current regime. The Argentine TV show “Intratables” is shown every night from Monday–Friday, when political analysts, journalists, and politicians are invited to discuss the most important issues of the day. The following video clip is from one episode that demonstrates the show's heated nature.